TEam sunshine performance corporation
Team Sunshine Performance Corporation is a Philadelphia based company of theater and dance creators looking for something unique, passionate, dark, and hilarious from contemporary American live performance. Formed in 2010, Team Sunshine has created multiple shows and experiences through its own brand of collaborative play-making and writing. Team Sunshine is committed to exploring unique ideas in art, entertainment, and sustainable careers for its collaborators.
about the company
Team Sunshine Performance Corporation is dedicated to serving as a hub for the imaginative consideration of contemporary American culture and what it means to be a participant in it. Founded in 2010 by theatre and dance artists Benjamin Camp, Makoto Hirano, and Alex Torra, the company’s works come in the form of (1) ensemble-created performances, and (2) interactive, community-gathering social events. By providing fun, well-crafted experiences, Team Sunshine creates opportunities for people to come together, get involved in their culture, and engage with the pleasures and difficulties of our collective contemporary experience.
The company’s full-length works stem from Team Sunshine’s inclusive creation process and a self-imposed discipline of crafting artistic experiences that are both tradition-defying and accessible. Team Sunshine's eclectic body of work ranges from live theater and dance performance to large, outdoor battle spectacles and intimate art-trading gatherings. Due to this, Team Sunshine has garnered popular and critical praise while attracting new, young audiences in search of high-quality experiences within a space that encourages connecting with others. What lies at the center of everything the company does is a desire to endeavor communally, to create opportunities for empathy, and to maintain a sense of humor while striving for excellence.
Regional and national presenters of Team Sunshine include FringeArts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Performance Network, Network of Ensemble Theaters, National Asian American Theater Festival, Ko Festival, and The Barnes Foundation, with works commissioned by the Rosenbach Museum and Library and by PECO/Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. Funding and production support has been provided by Knight Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Samuel S. Fels Fund, NALAC, The Orchard Project, SPACE at Ryder Farm, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Charlotte Cushman Foundation.
The company’s full-length works stem from Team Sunshine’s inclusive creation process and a self-imposed discipline of crafting artistic experiences that are both tradition-defying and accessible. Team Sunshine's eclectic body of work ranges from live theater and dance performance to large, outdoor battle spectacles and intimate art-trading gatherings. Due to this, Team Sunshine has garnered popular and critical praise while attracting new, young audiences in search of high-quality experiences within a space that encourages connecting with others. What lies at the center of everything the company does is a desire to endeavor communally, to create opportunities for empathy, and to maintain a sense of humor while striving for excellence.
Regional and national presenters of Team Sunshine include FringeArts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Performance Network, Network of Ensemble Theaters, National Asian American Theater Festival, Ko Festival, and The Barnes Foundation, with works commissioned by the Rosenbach Museum and Library and by PECO/Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. Funding and production support has been provided by Knight Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Samuel S. Fels Fund, NALAC, The Orchard Project, SPACE at Ryder Farm, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Charlotte Cushman Foundation.
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Team Sunshine Performance Corporation is a Network of Ensemble Theaters member, and a 501c3 not-for-profit organization.
PEOPLE
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Benjamin Camp
TEAM CAPTAIN Benjamin Camp is an actor/creator/producer working in Philadelphia, and a Co-Founder of Team Sunshine Performance Corporation. He was lead artist for Team Sunshine’s Punchkapow, Terrarium, and Zombie Defense Consultations, as well as a core collaborator on all Team Sunshine projects and events including JapanAmerica Wonderwave and Huddle Live. Benjamin was awarded the 2014 Independence Foundation Fellowship, and has had the pleasure of working with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Theater Horizon, and the Rosenbach Museum and Library, among others. Benjamin graduated with a BA Theater Major from Swarthmore College and completed the full program of Lecoq style training in physical theater and ensemble created theater at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). |
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Alex Torra
TEAM CAPTAIN Alex Torra is a Miami-born, Philadelphia-based director, performer, producer, and educator. He is the Co-Founder and Resident Director of Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, where he serves as one of the company’s primary administrators and has directed all of the company’s full-length works including PUNCHKAPOW, JAPANAMERICA WONDERWAVE, HENRY IV: YOUR PRINCE AND MINE, and THE SINCERITY PROJECT (parts 1 and 2), and ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE!. Alex is also an Associate Artist and former Associate Artistic Director of Pig Iron Theatre Company, where he has worked as Performer/Creator and Creative Producer on many of the company’s works over the last 10 years. Alex has received fellowships from the Independence Foundation, the Philadelphia Live Arts Brewery, the Princess Grace Foundation (the Grace Le Vine Theatre Award), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and NY's Drama League. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.F.A. in Directing from Brown University. Alex currently serves a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre at Swarthmore College, where he directs often and teaches Solo Performance and Acting. |
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Makoto Hirano
TEAM CAPTAIN Makoto Hirano is a Philadelphia-based dance, theatre, and performance-poetry artist. His award-winning ensemble and solo performance works have been presented nationally in numerous venues and festivals across the nation. As a collaborating performer, Hirano has originated over 20 roles, with highlights that include projects with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Company, and Thaddeus Phillips/Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental. Hirano is a co-founder of both Team Sunshine Performance Corporation and art-duo Gatto+Hirano. A former U.S. Marine, Hirano studied dance at Columbia College Chicago and earned his BFA in dance at Temple University. |
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Phoebe Schaub
OPERATIONS MANAGER Phoebe Schaub is a Philadelphia artist, teaching artist (Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Theatre Horizon, The Delphi Project for Pennsylvania Ballet), and Operations Manager of Team Sunshine Performance Corporation. She is a co-founder and former company member of Found Theater Company (where she co-created thirteen original works), a producer and curator of the Knight Foundation-funded Secret Show Series at Painted Bride Art Center, a producer of DG JAM for Directors Gathering, and a graduate of Temple University's undergraduate directing program. |
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Rachel Camp
ASSOCIATE ARTIST Rachel Camp is a Philadelphia-born performer, creator, and educator. She is a six-time Barrymore Award nominated actor, appearing on Philadelphia stages at the Arden Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, 1812 Productions, and others. She earned a Barrymore Award for Supporting Performance in a musical in 2011 and was a 2017 F. Otto Haas Finalist. Rachel has worked as an ensemble creator and assistant director of Team Sunshine Performance Corporation's 24-year piece The Sincerity Project since its premiere in 2014. She developed a solo concert piece with Theatre Horizon in May of 2019 and coaches vocal technique in individual and group settings. She sits on the board of Theatre Philadelphia and is a member of environmental justice group Philly Thrive. Rachel earned a BFA in Theatre with a concentration in Musical Theatre from Montclair State University. |
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April Rose
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER April Rose is a Philadelphia based artist, project manager, and producer. She currently coordinates independent artists in the annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She also produced the first annual Philadelphia Chalk Festival in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia and managed the PCAH supported cross cultural, year-long performance project ARC presented at Swarthmore College. In her work at the Painted Bride Art Center, April Rose created a six month residency program for over twenty-five Philadelphia artists and collectives to utilize the historic site at 230 Vine Street to devise and showcase their works. April Rose received a BA from Temple University. |
Team Sunshine Advisory Board Members:
Amanda Chudnow, Kimiko Doherty, Liz Green, Jeffrey Tan, Katie Samson, Marla Burkholder , Gary Reuben, Anthony Camp, Sarah Bishop-Stone, Jenna Horton, Tommy Butler , Elizabeth Scanlon
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ARTISTS WE THINK ARE COOL
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